Stuffed peppers are one of my favorite dishes to create. They’re colorful and you can pretty much stuff them with anything. Tonight I browned some ground beef with onion and two cloves of fresh garlic, then drained off the fat. Meanwhile, I cooked some brown rice. I popped open a can of fire roasted tomatoes, drained them and added them to the pan along with my spices. I like things hot, so I added a few dashes of crushed red pepper, italian seasoning and salt and pepper. I got some shredded cheese out of the fridge, added about a 1/4 of a cup to my rice and beef mixture and stirred it all together. I usually hit it with a little red wine, but I was out tonight, so I just went with it. I gave it a little taste, determined it was good to go and then proceeded with stuffing the cored peppers. Once stuffed, I topped them with a little more cheese (you can never have too much cheese), then alternately put the lids back on top and drizzled them with some extra virgin olive oil–that’s what gives them that charred looked when they come out of the oven. I put the peppers in a casserole dish, then poured some chicken stock in the bottom of the dish to keep everything moist during the cooking process. I roasted the peppers at 425 degrees for 25 minutes. While they were in the oven, I cleaned up the kitchen and made a quick tossed salad to round out the meal.

Not too shabby for a weeknight dinner, eh?

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